This trip in March 2017 was the first time I’d ever been to the Canary Islands but they are definitely somewhere I’d like to visit again, ideally as a cheap escape from the miserable British winter. While not the hottest month by any means in the Canaries, the March weather was usually bright, sunny and warm most days.

Las Palmas is the capital on the biggest island, Gran Canaria and ranks as the tenth largest metropolitan area in Spain.

It’s famous for its urban beach, Playa de Las Canteras which runs for three kilometres along the city’s northern shore.

The neighbourhood is known as Isleta. Please see the two following posts for restaurant suggestions.

The shoreline street, Paseo Las Canteras makes for a very pleasant walk although it can be a bit windy at times.

This statue of a fisherman descaling fish was my landmark on the waterfront that told me to turn inland to my hotel, the Hotel Astoria, www.bullhotels.com. The Astoria, with its small poky rooms and a very mediocre breakfast, is not particularly recommendable but its location near the beach made it preferable to the usual hotel my employer uses; the Hotel Parque en Las Palmas, www.hparque.com which is better located for Veguera and Triana in the old town on the eastern side of the city (see later posts).

Veguera has some fantastic architecture (see future posts) but there are a few nice buildings around Las Canteras as well.

There are some examples of simple Art Deco…

… as well as some interesting post-modern designs…

…some of which have some lovely tiling…

…and others less so.

There’s much more architecture in later posts but Las Canteras restaurants are next.